Green Energy Times

Headline News:

• “Climate Measures In Budget Bill Could Cut Nearly 1 Billion Tons Of Emissions Per Year By 2030, Analysis Finds” • Six major climate provisions in congressional Democrats’ massive budget bill could reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 1 billion tons per year by 2030, according to a study from the nonpartisan Rhodium Group. [CNN]

Wind turbines (Irina Iriser, Pexels)

• “Governor JB Pritzker Signs Legislation On Climate Change And Renewable Energy” • Illinois is the first state in the Midwest to enact legislation combating the climate crisis and to build an economy for the future. Gov JB Pritzker signed legislation that requires will close fossil fuel power plants over time and rescue money-losing nuclear plants. [HOI ABC]
• “XPeng Launches $25,000 To $35,000 P5 Electric Sedan – How Many Will XPeng Sell?” • XPeng has just dropped a massive hammer on the Chinese EV market. Despite being a smart electric car, XPeng’s new P5 model has a starting price of just ¥160,000 to ¥230,000 (after subsidies), which translates to $24,875 to $35,760. [CleanTechnica]
• “Details Of The House’s US EV Incentives Proposal” • The House Ways and Means Committee, which writes the tax code, worked through the energy portions of the Build Back Better Act. They reimagined the EV tax credit that consumers can get when they buy a new EV and added a credit for the second owner of the EV as well. [CleanTechnica]
• “EU Chief Challenges US On Climate And Asserts Brussels’ Role In ‘New International Order’” • In her State of the Union address to the European Parliament, EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen called on the US and China to increase efforts on the climate crisis, while also announcing plans to challenge their dominance in digital technology. [KRDO]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Headline News:

• “Nicholas Is Now A Hurricane That Threatens The Texas Coast With Heavy Rain And Storm Surges” • Nicholas strengthened into a hurricane and threatens to bring heavy rain, storm surges and strong winds to portions of the Texas Coast, the National Hurricane Center said. It said Nicholas could produce as much as 12 inches of rain or more in some areas. [CNN]

Expected rainfall from Nicolas (NOAA image)

• “Norway’s Center-Left Defeats Solberg’s Conservative Rule” • The opposition Labor party has won Norway’s general election, bringing an end to eight years of conservative government under Erna Solberg. Norway’s biggest export is oil and the green party campaigned to close production down in a few years to curb the country’s carbon emissions. [BBC]
• “Young People Very Worried: Survey” • A global survey shows the depth of anxiety many young people feel about climate change. Three-quarters of them said they thought the future was frightening. Over half (56%) say they think humanity is doomed. Over 45% of those questioned said feelings about the climate affected their daily lives. [BBC]
• “World Now Sees Twice As Many Days Over 50°C” • The number of extremely hot days every year, when the temperature reaches 50°C, has doubled since the 1980s, a global BBC analysis found. The total number of days above 50°C (122°F) increased in each decade since 1980, rising from an average of 14 days per year n 1980-2009 to 26 in 2010-2019. [BBC]
• “Biden Pushes To Combat Climate Crisis While Surveying Wildfire Damage In Western US” • President Joe Biden surveyed wildfire damage in the Western US, using nearly every stop he made to illustrate how recent extreme weather events underscore the urgency of his economic agenda and its investments in the nation’s infrastructure. [CNN]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Headline News:

• “Despite Climate Red Alert, Interior Department Moves On Gulf Lease Sale” • Despite clearly catastrophic climate change, the Interior Department decided to sell offshore leases of over 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico. It estimates the area will produce up to 1.1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over 50 years. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore oil rig (Clyde Thomas, Unsplash)

• “Australia Is Shaping Up To Be The Villain Of COP26 Climate Talks” • If Australia’s allies were worried that the country might cause them problems at upcoming climate talks in Glasgow, the events of the past week should leave little doubt in their minds. Australia made clear that it plans to pursue a business-as-usual approach to the climate. [CNN]
• “NASA Administrator Bill Nelson Pushes Continued Climate Research And Aircraft Sustainability” • At a White House event, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson showed some of the progress his agency has made on combating climate change. He highlighted NASA’s bold plan to reduce aviation-related carbon emissions by over 3 billion gallons by 2030. [CleanTechnica]
• “Shell Oil Looks To Become A Leader In Electric Vehicle Charging” • Shell is rapidly becoming a major player in the UK charging market. It now offers charging at numerous petrol stations, and will soon have charging at 100 supermarkets. Shell also aims to install 50,000 on-street public charging points in the UK over the next four years. [CleanTechnica]
• “States With The Most Renewables Have The Least Expensive Wholesale Electricity” • Wholesale electricity spot prices in the two Australian states with the most renewable energy generation, South Australia and Tasmania, are the lowest in the nation and have been for years. This is good news for anyone who prefers clean energy over dirty. [SolarQuotes]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Headline News:

• “The Future Of Agriculture Combined With Renewable Energy Finds Success At Jack’s Solar Garden” • A 24-acre family farm purchased by Jack Stingerie in 1972 has evolved into a model for how to produce energy and food in tandem. Jack’s Solar Garden is the largest commercially active agrivoltaics system in the US, combining agriculture with PVs. [CleanTechnica]

Byron Kominek, owner of Jack’s Solar Garden (Werner Slocum, NREL)

• “New York City Plans Major Expansion Of EV Charging Stations” • There may be an answer to EV charging for residents of New York City. According to Staten Island Live, the city will create one of the country’s largest electric vehicle charging networks over the next 10 years in an effort to reduce the its greenhouse gas emissions. [CleanTechnica]
• “20 Years After 9/11, Yankee’s Nuclear Fuel Still Poses Security Risk” • The Vermont Department of Health still plans for the worst. But the Vermont Yankee site is not as bad as it could have been six years ago, when the reactor shut down. The nuclear fuel has been moved out of the reactor core and put into giant steel and concrete casks. [Brattleboro Reformer]
• “Morrisville Salvage Yard’s New Solar Array Helps Power The Community” • Encore Renewable Energy and VPPSA put a 2.1-MW community solar array into commission at a former auto salvage yard in Morrisville, Vermont, they announced. The PV project is part of ar partnership to develop, finance, and build 10 MW of PVs. [Vermont Business Magazine]
• “Electric Cars Are Coming, No Matter What Some Media And Critics Say” • As it becomes clearer that electric transportation is the future, the haters, Luddites, and boo-birds are out in full force. Every single day I see a slew of anti-EV material online. Some of these are articles in reputable media. But say what they will, the EVs are coming. [CleanTechnica]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

Headline News:

• “Biden Administration Says Solar Energy Has The Potential To Power 40% Of US Electricity By 2035” • The Solar Futures Study, from the US DOE shows how solar energy could play a massive role in transitioning the US power sector to clean energy and achieve the President’s ambitious goals to decarbonize the American economy. [CNN]

Solar farm (Tom Fisk, Pexels)

• “Biden Wants An Aggressive Transition To Electric Vehicles. A Surprising Ally Is Pumping The Brakes” • In August, President Joe Biden announced a target to have half of the vehicles sold in the US be battery electric, fuel-cell electric, or plug-in hybrid by 2030. But the United Autoworkers Union, one of Biden’s oldest political allies is resisting. [CNN]
• “Chile’s Power Auction Wraps Up For Average Price Of $23.78 Per MWh” • Five renewable energy companies were declared winners in Chile’s technology neutral power auction for 2,310 GWh/year for 15 years. The average price was $23.78 per MWh from solar, wind, and storage projects with a total of 2,000 MW of installed capacity. [Renewables Now]
• “Global Windfarm Installations Expected To Surge After Covid Drop, Says Report” • The Global Wind Energy Council’s annual report found that the world’s offshore windfarm capacity grew by 6.1 GW last year, down slightly from a record 6.24 GW in 2019. It expects it to grow to more than 12 GW in 2021 powered by an offshore wind boom in China. [The Guardian]
• “US Renewable Energy Sees Record Growth” • Renewable energy saw record growth in the first six months of 2021 and now accounts for 25% of all the electricity capacity in the US, up from 23% a year ago. An increase of two percentage points may not sound like a lot but it shows that the US energy sector is headed in the right direction. [Treehugger]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.